Meet The Founder of Luxury CARAT Shoes Fatmah Hussain
CARAT is a luxury footwear brand for women, founded and launched in 2019 by Kuwaiti designer Fatmah Hussain. After discovering her passion for fashion design and acquiring prestigious training in Milan, she infused that knowledge with personal style, bringing CARAT to life.
CARAT raises the bar in the designer footwear industry and transforms high heels into pieces of wearable art. Each shoe is skilfully designed, made with high quality Italian leather, handcrafted in Italy, and engraved with synthetic gems, setting CARAT apart from the crowd. Dreamed and sketched by an artist, crafted in Italy by the best manufacturer and finished off with a signature Ruby engraving on each pair, CARAT heels were made to last and impress.
Ikon London Magazine spoke to the founder of CARAT Shoes about challenges of setting up new luxury business in times of pandemic and challenges the founder had to overcome to launch her successful brand.
With over a decade of experience working in the oil industry, Fatmah Hussain viewed fashion as a daily inspiration. After realising she had passion and talent for finding the finest fashion designs, Hussain followed her passion and in 2018 headed to Milan to obtain private training in one of most prestigious private footwear schools in Milan, “Arsutoria School”. There, she was trained by professional mentor in not only in footwear manufacturing and designs, but also in footwear start-up business.
“CARAT shoes are designed for fearless ladies who are meticulous and know what they want in a shoe, ladies who appreciate quality, authenticity, and comfort. Make no mistake when spotting CARAT’s designs in the market, with the brand’s statement architectural heel and use of authentic leathers,” says Hussain to describe her business.
Hussain uses secrets of Italian footwear, cultural influences, and her person style to design unique and innovative footwear. Each piece is crafted to make a statement and capture a unique sense of couture fashion. CARAT never compromises on comfort or materials, despite the unique architecture of each shoe.
As with every business, CARAT faced many challenges and setbacks during the pandemic, according to the founder. However, with Hussain’s leadership, the brand not only survived, but grew. The brand manufactured four new collections featuring stylish designs that transcends seasons that stand out on the runway, the office, the club, or the store.
The shoe designer admitted that the landscape is challenging. “Working remotely from Kuwait to manage the manufacturing and quality control in Italy is been the most challenging part, especially during the past couple years through the Pandemic.” Anyone who’s ever dealt with fashion manufacturing will know that it’s no mean feast to organise working supply chain and manage logistics, especially though lockdowns: “We had some issues during the Pandemic as factory had to close down couple times for lockdowns”.
What helped Hussain to elevate her sales is her timeless designs. There is also no place for fast fashion. All CARAT designs can withstand all seasons. “As part of CARAT’s brand vision , we are making timeless items and trying to minimise it into 1 collection per year.” This strategy has seemingly been largely responsible for CARAT success. The unique design launches boosted sales to new levels despite the pandemic and several designs sold out entirely.
While there are no stockists in the UK yet, you can order your pair online and it will arrive to your door without delays with DHL.
For more information, visit caratbrandofficial.com and follow the brand on Instagram.
Editor in Chief of Ikon London Magazine, journalist, film producer and founder of The DAFTA Film Awards (The DAFTAs).
